On August 27, 2016, at 9:00 a.m., Plaintiff was driving his Honda motorcycle southbound in the right lane of US-69 approaching the intersection with Rhodus Road in Excelsior Springs, MO. This portion of the highway was four lanes with a posted 65 MPH speed limit. At the same time defendant truck driver was operating a 2014 Freightliner tractor-trailer on Rhodus Road, a two-lane road, toward the intersection with southbound US-69. The driver was in route to a pickup at a local factory which was scheduled to be delivered out of state. As the truck driver approached the intersection, he failed to yield to oncoming traffic and attempted to cross southbound US-69 directly in front of the motorcycle operated by Plaintiff. The Plaintiff attempted to swerve and slow his bike, but it skidded on the roadway and violently struck the front passenger side of the tractor-trailer. Plaintiff survived the collision for several minutes before passing away at the scene as a result of his injuries. Plaintiff left behind a wife and three minor children.

During discovery, Plaintiffs’ counsel, Mike Rader and Michelle Marvel uncovered evidence supporting claims for negligent entrustment and training against the defendant trucking company. The truck driver failed several road evaluations during his training with the trucking company regarding safely scanning at intersections before entering and yielding at intersections. The very issue causing this accident. It was also determined that the truck driver had failed the CDL exam on two occasions. Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that defendant trucking company knew or should have known that their driver presented a hazard due to his inability to safely scan at intersections. Also, that they failed to take reasonable measures to ensure that the driver was properly trained before entrusting the tractor-trailer to him.

The case was resolved after two mediations and after Plaintiffs identified their 6 liability and damage experts.